HATHA YOGA: Benefits and Principles for a More Meaningful Practice

In Brief LEARNING OBJECTIVE • To understand Yoga more fully by learning about the eight limbs of Yoga. More specifically, to understand the yamas and niyamas, or ethical principles for living well, enough to be able to incorporate these principles both on and off the mat for a more meaningful practice. A Hatha yoga practice may be performed purely for physical reasons, as it has many fitness and health benefits. We can move beyond the physical and health benefits that yoga offers by incorporating a few principles rooted in the foundations of yoga, and thereby transform our physical practice of yoga into a more mindful and meaningful lifestyle practice.